The present invention relates to a contour tracer and particularly to a tracer for use in installing floor tiles against a non-linear profile.
In floor tiles installation, it has been a common problem in shaping the tiles to engage properly with a nonlinear profile or edge such as the outline or contour of a pipe, a toilet, a cabinet or even around door jams. Heretofore, one method to resolve such problem, was usually to press a piece of paper against such profile and the shape or outline of the object was marked or traced out on the paper. The outline on the paper was subsequently cut out for use as a template for tracing out the required outline on the tiles to be used. Such method was time consuming to carry out and inaccuracy would be introduced in marking the outline onto the paper and cutting it out as well as in transferring it to the tiles. Furthermore, it is difficult to find the suitable paper for use which would have the desirable texture and flexibility to be pressed against the object for marking and tracing its outline or profile without tearing and/or mutilating the paper. Moreover, the paper must have the strength and rigidity to be used as a template without losing the traced and cut outline.
Another attempt to transfer the required outline to the tiles was by using a contour gauge. Such gauge consists of a plurality of thin wires bound together permanently by one or two brackets disposed transverse to the wires. The wires may be forced to slide relative to one another so that the ends of the wires in combination could be made to form an outline. Such gauge could be used to trace the outline of an object by placing it with one end abutting the side of the object and tapping the other end of the gauge with fingers or a mallet until the wires are forced to displace relative to one another so that their ends in combination conform to the outline of the object. The outline could thus be transferred to the tiles to be used. Such gauge is more convenient to use than tracing the outline with paper; however, since the width of the gauge is fixed by the number of wires bound permanently by the brackets, in some instances the width of the gauge may be too wide so that it cannot be positioned in the restricted space between the object to be traced and the adjacent wall or another object, thus rendering the gauge not useable. Also, due to the rigidity of the brackets such gauge cannot be used on an uneven floor. Yet, on the other hand, due to that such gauge is made of pliable wires, its size is constructionally restricted to only about 6 inches wide by 3 inches long, as longer wires would tend to distort undesirably when being tapped with an axial force during use in tracing a contour. Such a small size gauge does not lend itself to the convenient use in floor tile installation. The reason is that common floor tiles are 12 inches square in size, so that at least two tracings of the 6 inches wide gauge are required to mark and transfer any contour to the 12 inches wide tile. Furthermore, such gauge does not provide a measure for transferring the exact position of the contour in the longitudinal direction transverse to the contour, since its length is considerably less than that of the tile. This problem cannot be resolved by increasing the length of the wires in the gauge to 12 inches long, because, as discussed above, due to the pliancy of the longer wires they are diffult to displace relative to one another without distortion or becoming bent.